


with each passing day (the backpack remix)

by dancesontrains



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Henry Allen (mentioned) - Freeform, Iris West (Mentioned) - Freeform, Joe is trying, Pre-Season/Series 01, Remix
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-16
Updated: 2018-09-16
Packaged: 2019-07-06 10:45:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15884472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dancesontrains/pseuds/dancesontrains
Summary: "So," Joe said, folding his hands together like he had seen his own father do when he was young, "why were you trying to break your father out of jail?"Barry looked at Joe. "Because you won't."





	with each passing day (the backpack remix)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [summerdayghost](https://archiveofourown.org/users/summerdayghost/gifts).
  * Inspired by [with each passing day](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2518046) by [summerdayghost](https://archiveofourown.org/users/summerdayghost/pseuds/summerdayghost). 



> Thank you for the fic, summerdayghost!

Barry kicked at the back of the front seat in Joe's car. 

"So, you feel like talking about what just happened?" Joe asked, his eyes mostly on the road. 

Silence. 

Joe continued driving, nodding to himself a little. 

Barry opened up the backpack he was clutching, taking a drink of some water. 

Soon, they drove up to the front of Joe's house. He put the car in park and turned off the engine, turning to look more closely at Barry. 

"Look, Bare, I-"

"Not. Talking." Barry folded his arms over the backpack. 

Joe sighed, used to the tantrums of children. But Barry...that boy carried a deep hurt. 

"We can stay in here all day. Or we can move to the house, and talk in there. It's your choice." 

Joe settled into his seat. Waiting. 

Three minutes, five minutes, seven minutes.

Joe glanced over at Barry; his face was crinkled up unhappily, but he looked determined. 

After ten minutes, Barry sighed and said, in a defeated tone, "Okay, I'll talk."

Joe immediately unlocked the doors. They both got out of the car and walked over from the driveway to the front door, Barry scuffing his shoes  
against the ground as they went. 

Joe placed an arm on Barry's shoulder as they walked, only letting go to open the front door. Then he gently nudged Barry onto a couch.

"Want a drink?" 

Barry shook his head. "Where's Iris?"

"At Auntie Max's place. She won't be back for a few hours."

Joe sat on a sofa opposite Barry, who still clutched onto his backpack as if it would save him. 

"So," Joe said, folding his hands together like he had seen his own father do when he was young, "why were you trying to break your father out of jail?"

Barry looked at Joe. "Because you won't." 

"Barry, we've been over this before, I-" 

"And I don't care! He didn't do anything, it was the man in yellow. But you don't believe me." 

Joe sighed and leaned forward, still looking at Barry. 

"Bare, I've spoken to Dr. Helms, and she said that -" 

Barry muttered something under his breath. 

"What did you just say?" 

"I said, she doesn't know crap about what happened that night."

"Language."

A silent pause. Then, "I'm sorry."

"That's better. Now, as I was saying, Dr. Helms thinks that you don't remember what actually happened that night, because it was too horrible for  
you to understand." 

"That's...just..." Barry punched the side of his backpack; something gurgled. 

"Barry. What did we say about taking your anger out by hitting things?"

"That I shouldn't do it?" 

Joe nodded. 

Barry dropped the backpack on the floor loudly.

Joe opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it again, reconsidering. 

"Look, what if we see it your way? Say there really was a mysterious man in yellow there that night." 

Barry looked hopeful, and nodded. 

"And say he really did...do what he did. So your father is innocent."

More nodding. 

"Then, where did he come from? There was no sign of any third person in the house that night."

Barry frowned. "I know what I saw!" 

"And how would he have powers like that anyway? Those don't exist in the real world."

Barry sat there, staring at him, before getting up and running to his bedroom. 

"Barry-"

"I don't want to hear it!" he shouted back before slamming the door. 

Joe sighed to himself, running his hand over his head. 

There was no point in going to Barry's room, not right away. Instead, he picked up the backpack, placing it on the sofa. Barry and he could unpack later, when the boy was in a better mood. 

He knew what would be in it, having helped Barry unpack many times before. Some water, chocolate bars, tools that he had pilfered from Joe's  
garage that he thought would help get Henry out of jail. A shovel, pliers. Some comics to read on the bus ride there.

It broke Joe's heart, watching Barry do the same thing again and again. He really seemed to believe in Henry Allen's innocence. 

Joe sighed again, and almost wished that he could believe in it too. 

And yet, life went on. He glanced at the clock - Iris would be home in a couple of hours. 

He decided to go up and see Barry. 

Barry's door stood out a little by having none of the drawings and stickers that covered Iris's. Joe knocked on it carefully.

No reply. 

He knocked again. "Bare, you can't lock me out forever." 

The door opened a crack. Barry's tear-streaked face appeared. 

"Mind if I come in?" 

Barry nodded, before he left the door and walked back to his bed. 

Joe walked into Barry's room, leaving the door open behind him. After all, there was no-one else in the house. 

The room had been a spare room until a few months ago, and it showed. Joe had put up some posters of things he thought Barry would like - baseball, movies - soon after he had to move in, but the dark walls lacked Barry's own art. 

Barry flopped onto his bed. Joe settled next to him. 

"I thought of something," Barry said. He looked determined under the tear stains. 

"What is it?"

"I _can_ do something. I can look for things that are weird, and then maybe I'll find the man in yellow and free my dad." 

Joe dug up his handkerchief from a pocket, offering it to Barry. Barry took it to wipe his face and blow his nose, handing it back afterwards. 

"No, no, you keep it." He paused for a few seconds. "That's a really good idea, Barry!" Joe forced the cheerfulness into his voice. 

It _was_ a good idea, but was he encouraging the boy's delusions? Maybe he should talk to Dr. Helms again. 

"I just want people to believe me," Barry said, looking at a book he'd dropped on the floor. 

Joe opened his arms for a hug. Barry nestled into them. Where had he written down the doctor's number? It was either in his bedroom or by the downstairs telephone. 

Something caught Joe's attention. He glanced at the upper corner of the room, puzzled. He was sure something was watching him. 

Probably just a spider, Joe decided, as he continued to hug Barry.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. 
> 
> Kindly betaed by preussisch_blau; all remaining mistakes are mine.


End file.
